Philanthropy management apparatus, system, and methods of use and doing business

ABSTRACT

A philanthropic donation management system and methods of use and doing business. The system includes a computing server in communication with a communications network, such as the Internet, a LAN, or a WAN. The computing server maintains information about charitable projects and provides remote users and others with management tools for inputting information about charitable projects, pre-approving or otherwise assessing them, and accessing and managing charitable project information, portfolios, user team member information and access. The system can provide a business based on, for example, providing system, access, charitable fund management, and charitable donation transaction fees.

PRIORITY STATEMENT

The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/290,556, filed Nov. 8, 2002, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/345,361, filed Nov. 8, 2001. The contentsof both of these applications are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to apparatus, systems, and methods formanaging and/or assessing philanthropic donations, resources, andprojects.

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Philanthropy has been essential to advancement of society and bettermentof the human condition for hundreds of years. Many of the very finesteducational, health care, and religious institutions and activities havelong been the direct result of philanthropic donations and activities.The resulting institutions, services, and products not only oftenfulfill substantial voids that have not been, and often cannot be met,by government, but also expand the range of options and competitivealternatives to institutions, services, and products provided by thegovernment and non-philanthropic private activities and entities. Thenet result is not only a more efficient allocation of resources in themarket and society as a whole, but also substantial increases in thequality of societal morals, education, human interaction, spiritualaccomplishment, and life all across society.

As the industrial and other economies have evolved over the past onehundred years and more, individuals and institutions in them havedeveloped enormous amounts of capital that they often seek to allocateand donate toward philanthropic donations and other activities. Theeffort involved, however, in actually making and managing donations onbehalf the philanthropists or philanthropic institutions owning orcontrolling the capital is often a sizable, costly, and time consumingchallenge.

Typically, those individuals or entities with particularly large fundsor other resources for philanthropic activities set up their ownfoundations to identify charitable projects and manage theirphilanthropic donations. Each foundation then typically conductsinvestigations into the large number of potential recipients, such ascharities, educational institutions, and religious entities, todetermine those who will receive donations from the foundation. Thefoundation often also conducts its own oversight and managementdepending on the nature of the donation and the level of interest of thedonors in ensuring proper use of the donated funds. Typically, eachphilanthropic foundation must itself conduct these types of activities,and set up attendant customized management and accounting systems andfunctions, at substantial expense to the philanthropic foundations andthose who fund them. This substantial effort and expense can delay andconsume resources that would otherwise be available for actualphilanthropic or other uses. It also reduces the ability of potentialdonors to learn of all the potential philanthropic projects in which thedonors might be interested in funding.

For those individuals or entities seeking to engage in philanthropicactivities without use of a foundation, the challenges are often evengreater. In the applicants' view, this problem greatly reduces both thequantity and the quality of philanthropic activities.

Nevertheless, the amount of funds available for philanthropic use hasbeen growing rapidly over the past few decades in particular. Theapplicants have recognized these problems and their likely adverseconsequences for those who would engage in philanthropic activities aswell as for those who would benefit from them.

SUMMARY

The applicants have invented apparatus, systems, and methods formanaging and/or assessing philanthropic activities having a variety ofdifferent aspects. In one aspect, the invention preferably provides asystem and method for managing or reporting the status and needs of oneor more charitable or philanthropic projects and, most preferably,portfolios of such projects.

The system preferably provides access to information about potentialprojects and organizations seeking charitable funding. Most preferably,the system also provides searching capability for searching potentialprojects and organizations and reporting those that meet the searchcriteria.

In another aspect, the invention may preferably provide a system forassessing or qualifying philanthropic projects and organizationsaccording to one or more criteria. Most preferably, the qualifiedprojects and organizations are then searchable or otherwise accessibleto users through other management and/or reporting functions in thesystem. The qualified projects and organizations are preferably alsoaccessible through the managing and reporting system.

Most preferably, the system provides philanthropic fund qualification,transfer, deposit, and/or reporting functionality.

In another aspect, the invention may preferably provide a system thatmakes philanthropic project management, reporting, and/or assessmentactivities more efficient, thorough, economical, and/or widely availableto users.

Most preferably, the system is readily and widely available tophilanthropic donors, managers, and consultants by remote access,including through the Internet or private or virtual private networks orcombinations thereof.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, one or aspects of the inventedsystem or method can provide revenue generation for an entity forproviding access to or use of the one or more aspects. In this fashion,a business (or method) may most preferably help fund the development,deployment, and/or use of or access to the one or more aspects.

Most preferably, such a business (and method) can not only possiblyexpand philanthropic activities but also provide additional incentivesand opportunities to further improve and expand philanthropic activitiesand projects in the future.

It can thus be seen that there are many aspects of the presentinvention, including particular additional or alternative features thatwill become apparent as this specification proceeds. It is thereforeunderstood that the scope of the invention is to be determined by theclaims and not by whether the claimed subject matter solves anyparticular problem or all of them, provide any particular features orall of them, or meet any particular objective or group of objectives setforth in the General Background or Brief Summary above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a network architecture for a web-accessibleversion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of an alternative network architecture for aweb-accessible version of the preferred philanthropy management system;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for the “login” and “main menu” procedure in theportfolio management portion of the preferred philanthropy managementsystem;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the “managing clients” procedure in theportfolio management portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the “edit existing client” procedure in theportfolio management portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the “team member” procedure in the portfoliomanagement portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of “find projects” procedure in the portfoliomanagement portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 8 is the “user options” procedure in the portfolio managementportion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 9 is the “view project details” procedure in the portfoliomanagement portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 10 is the “fund project” procedure in the portfolio managementportion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 11 is a screen shot of the “login” web, or browser, page providedby the “login” procedure of FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is a screen shot of “main menu” browser page provided by “mainmenu” procedure of FIG. 3;

FIG. 13 is a screen shot of the “client menu” browser page provided by“managing clients” procedure of FIG. 4;

FIG. 14 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “new client menu”browser page provided by the “managing clients” procedure of FIG. 4;

FIG. 15 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “new client menu”browser page of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a screen shot of the “client summary” browser page providedby the “edit existing clients” procedure of FIG. 5;

FIG. 17 is a screen shot of the “client contact info” browser pageprovided by the “edit existing clients” procedure of FIG. 5;

FIG. 18 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “client goals”browser page provided by the “edit existing clients” procedure of FIG.5;

FIG. 19 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “client goals”browser page of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a screen shot of the “client portfolio” browser page providedby the “edit existing clients” procedure of FIG. 4;

FIG. 21 is a screen shot of the “client account” browser page providedby the “edit existing clients” procedure of FIG. 4;

FIG. 22 is a screen shot of the “client reports” browser page providedby the “edit existing clients” procedure of FIG. 4;

FIG. 23 is a screen shot of the “team” browser page provided by the“team member” procedure of FIG. 5;

FIG. 24 is a screen shot of the “new team member” browser page providedby the “team member” procedure of FIG. 5;

FIG. 25 is a screen shot of the “edit team member” browser page providedby the “team member” procedure of FIG. 5;

FIG. 26 is a screen shot of the “email my team” browser page of the“team member” procedure of FIG. 6;

FIG. 27 is a screen shot of the “find projects” browser page of the“find projects” procedure of FIG. 7;

FIG. 28 is a screen shot of the “automatic search” browser page of the“find projects” procedure of FIG. 7;

FIG. 29 is a screen shot of the “manual search” browser page of the“find projects” procedure of FIG. 7;

FIG. 30 is a screen shot of the “browse all projects” browser page ofthe “find projects” procedure of FIG. 7;

FIG. 31 is a screen shot of the “project/organizational profile” browserpage of the “view project details” procedure of FIGS. 7 and 9;

FIG. 32 is a screen shot of the “give to a project/organization” browserpage of the “fund project” procedure of FIGS. 7 and 10;

FIG. 33 is a screen shot of the “options menu” browser page of the “useroptions” procedure of FIG. 8;

FIG. 34 is a screen shot of the “edit personal info” browser page of the“user options” procedure of FIG. 8;

FIG. 35 is a screen shot of the “change password” browser page of the“user options” procedure of FIG. 8;

FIG. 36 is a flow chart for the “login and main menu” procedure in theproject assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 37 is a flowchart for the “my projects” procedure in the projectassessment portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 38 is a flowchart for the “edit existing project” procedure in theproject assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 39 is a flowchart for the “my team” procedure in the projectassessment portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 40 is a flowchart for the “search for projects” procedure in theproject assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 41 is a flowchart for the “options menu” procedure in the projectassessment portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 42 is a flowchart for the “system administration” procedure in theproject assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 43 is a flowchart for the “edit existing organization” procedure inthe project assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 44 is a flowchart for the “manage organizations” procedure in theproject assessment portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 45 is a flowchart of the “review projects” procedure in the projectassessment portion of the philanthropy management system;

FIG. 46 is a screen shot of the “login” browser page for the “login andmain menu” procedure of FIG. 36;

FIG. 47 is a screen shot of the “main menu” browser page for the “loginand main menu” software of FIG. 36;

FIG. 48 is a screen shot of the “my projects” browser page for the “myprojects” procedure of FIG. 37;

FIG. 49 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “new project”browser page for the “my projects” procedure of FIG. 37;

FIG. 50 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “new project”browser page of FIG. 49;

FIG. 51 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “edit project(general)” browser page of the “edit existing project” procedure of FIG.38;

FIG. 52 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “edit project(general)” browser page of FIG. 51;

FIG. 53 is a screen shot of the “edit project (organization)” browserpage of the “edit existing project” procedure of FIG. 38;

FIG. 54 is a screen shot of the “edit project (description)” browserpage of the “edit existing project” procedure of FIG. 38;

FIG. 55 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “edit project(financial)” browser page of the “edit existing project” procedure ofFIG. 38;

FIG. 56 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “edit project(financial)” browser page of FIG. 55;

FIG. 57 is a screen shot of the “admin menu” browser page of the “systemadministration” procedure of FIG. 42;

FIG. 58 is a screen shot of the “manage projects” browser page of the“system administration” procedure of FIG. 42;

FIG. 59 is a screen shot of the “review projects” browser page of the“review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;

FIG. 60 is a screen shot of the “review project—general info” browserpage of the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;

FIG. 61 is a screen shot of the “review project—description” browserpage of the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;

FIG. 62 is a screen shot of the “review projects—financial” browser pageof the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;

FIG. 63 is a screen shot of upper portion of the “reviewproject—classification” browser page of the “review projects” procedureof FIG. 45;

FIG. 64 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “reviewproject—classification” browser page of FIG. 63;

FIG. 65 is a screen shot of the “review project—contacts” browser pageof the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;

FIG. 66 is a screen shot of the “review project—media” browser page ofthe “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;

FIG. 67 is a screen shot of the “review project—evaluation” browser pageof the “review projects” procedure of FIG. 45;

FIG. 68 is a screen shot of the “manage users” browser page of the“manage users” procedure of FIG. 42;

FIG. 69 is a screen shot of the upper portion of the “new user account”browser page of the “manage users” procedure of FIG. 43;

FIG. 70 is a screen shot of the lower portion of the “new user account”browser page of FIG. 69;

FIG. 71 is a screen shot of the “change user password” browser page ofthe “manage users” procedure of FIG. 43; and

FIG. 72 is a screen shot of the “edit user account” browser page of the“manage users” procedure of FIG. 43.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the presentinvention is not limited to the preferred embodiments and can beimplemented in numerous ways with varying features.

For example, FIG. 1 shows one preferred PC-based system architecture,generally 10, for a web-based version of the preferred philanthropysystems and methods. FIG. 2 shows an alternative PC-based architecture,generally 12, to accomplish the same objects, but obviously the presentsystems and methods also may run on different architectures, such asLAN, WAN, Stand-alone PC, stand-alone, clustered, or networked mini ormainframe computers, etc. This is only one of many instances in whichthe invention, even as shown only in FIG. 1, is certainly not limited tothe preferred embodiment of the invention. Again, the followingdisclosure is of the preferred embodiments, but not the onlyembodiments.

In the preferred embodiment, a philanthropy support business preferablyprovides a philanthropy management web-site that can be accessed byphilanthropists, their philanthropic foundations, assistants,counselors, and consultants, and by entities seeking philanthropicresources, such as donations from philanthropists. The web-site providesaccess to two systems. One is a browser-based charitable portfoliomanagement system, shown in FIGS. 3-35, and the other is a browser-basedcharitable project assessment system, shown in FIGS. 36-72.

With reference now to FIG. 1, the philanthropy management web-site andrelated systems shown in FIGS. 3-72 are hosted on at least two primarycomputers 14, 16. One primary computer, the web server 16, runs Windows2000 Server SP2 and Internet Information Server 5.0. (Version numbersthroughout this application were current at the time of original filingof this application, but it is contemplated that the present systemswill be upgraded over time to keep them current and more readilymaintainable.) The other primary computer, the SQL database server 14,runs Windows 2000 Server SP2 and SQL Server 2000 database procedure.

Preferably, a firewall system 18 is located between the web sewer 16 andSQL database server 14 in order to protect the database server fromentities that access the web server 16 and general Internet traffic. Thefirewall system 18 is configured to allow only connections from thedesignated web server 16 and conventional administrative computingconsoles (not shown).

With reference now to FIG. 2, a third logic server system 20 can beplaced between the web server 16 and firewall system 18 to communicatethrough the firewall 18 with the SQL database server 13. The logicserver hosts web services and components as needed, in order to reduceprocessing load on the web server 16 and database server 14. In order tosupport load balancing as network traffic demands, the web server 16 canbe supplemented by yet additional web servers (not shown) arranged in a“web farm” or “cluster” configuration. The same strategy may be employedon the database server 14 side of the overall system 10 for loadbalancing of the database server functions.

All servers 14, 16, 20 communicate with each other through HTTP andTCP/IP protocols. Preferably, the servers 14, 16, 20 pass information asXML as much as possible.

With reference to both FIGS. 1 and 2, client computers of various types,e.g., 22, 24, may connect to the web server 16 and any supporting webfarm web servers (not shown) via the public Internet 24 through HTTP andTCP/IP protocols. Also, PDA's (personal desktop assistant computers) andmobile phone computing devices, generally 26, can connect to a specialversion of web pages specifically designed for smaller screens over theWAP (wireless access protocol).

With reference now to FIGS. 3 and 11, the charitable portfoliomanagement system provides a login and main menu procedure, generally28, that provides a user login browser page or screen 30. Through thelogin screen 30, a remote or other user, e.g., 22, 24, or 26, can entera prearranged user name or i.d. 31 and password 33 in order to gainaccess to the charitable portfolio management system.

With reference now to FIGS. 3 and 12, once the password has been enteredand validated 35, the user is presented with a main menu browser page32. The main menu screen 32 includes with the choice of clicking onlogout web page button 34, a manage clients button 36, a manage teambutton 38, a find projects button 40, an options button 42, and areports button 43. The main menu page 32 also includes a second listingand set of these same options (the “main menu options”) vertically onthe left side 45 of the main menu page 32.

If the user clicks on the logout button 34, then, as shown in FIGS. 3and 11, the main menu procedure 28 presents the user with the login webpage 30.

With reference now to FIGS. 3 and 12, when the user clicks on the manageclients button 36, the manage clients procedure 44 presents the userwith the manage clients, also called “clients menu” browser page,generally 46. The clients menu page 46 provides the user with choice ofclicking on a new client button 48, an import client list button 50, ora client name, generally 52 (which calls up the edit existing client webpage 53 of FIG. 4). The clients menu browser page 46 also provides theuser the option of deleting a client 54 by right clicking on a clientname and clicking on a pop-up delete query (not shown) and thenconfirming the intent to delete by hitting the enter key 58. The clientmenu browser page 46 also automatically presents the next appointmentdate for each client 52 and the amount the client has gifted (i.e.,donated) year to date 62. The client menu browser page 46 also presentsthe main menu options vertically on the left side 47 of the main menubrowser page 46.

With reference now to FIGS. 4, 14, and 15, if the user clicks on the addnew client button 48 in the clients menu page 46, the manage clientsprocedure 44 presents the user with a new clients browser page 64. Thenew clients browser page 64, and manage clients procedure 44, providesthe user with the option of clicking on a cancel button 84 to cancel theprocedure and return to the preceding clients menu browser page 46described above. The new clients browser page 46 also presents the mainmenu options on the left side 89 of the new clients browser page 64.

In order to enter a new client into the system, the manage clientsprocedure 44 requires that the user must enter certain minimum clientdata 80—at least a first name 66, last name 68, home phone number 70,street 1 address 72, city 74, state 76, and zip code 78 for the newclient—prior to clicking on the submit button 82. The manage clientsprocedure 44 cycles the user back 85 to the new client browser page 64if the user hits the submit button 82 without including at least thisrequired information.

If this required information is entered 87, the manage clients procedure44 adds this information to the SQL database 86 running on the SQLdatabase server 14 in FIG. 2 (or 3). In that event, if additionalinformation also has been entered (such as the new client's middleinitial 90, work phone 92, mobile phone 94, fax phone 96, e-mail address98, e-mail format 100, street 2 address 102, work address 104, or notes106, this additional information. to the extent entered by the user, isalso stored in the SQL database. Upon entry of new client informationinto the SQL database, the edit existing client procedure commences andpresents the user, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 16, with client summarybrowser page 108 for the newly added client. Unlike the screen shown inFIG. 16, however, upon entry of a new client into the database, at firstthere will not be any data shown for the particular newly added client,as it will not yet have been entered into the database for depiction onthe client summary browser page 108.

Note, however, that, as data is entered into the database for the clientas further shown and described below, the edit existing clientsprocedure automatically retrieves from the SQL database data fordepiction of the client summary browser page 108 when accessed by theuser in connection with a particular client also as further shown anddescribed below. That automatically retrieved and depicted data on theclient summary browser page 108 includes a chart of the client's actualgiving and goals for giving through the year as well as a listing of theprojects and organizations to which the client has donated.

The client summary browser page 108 also includes the main menu optionson its left side 110. In addition, the client summary page 108 providesthe user with the option of clicking on horizontally aligned file-likebuttons for the summary page 110, the contact info page 112, the goalsreview page 114, the portfolio review page 116, the accounts review page118, and the reports menu 120 (the “horizontal client data buttons”).The user may click on these buttons to activate associated procedures,described below, in any order desired by the user.

When the user clicks on the contact info page 112, the edit existingclient procedure 100 presents, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 17, the clientcontact info browser page 122. The client contact info page 122 presentsthe data previously entered for the client into the database. The clientcontact info page 122 also includes the horizontal client data buttonsand the main menu options on the left side of the client contact infopage 122.

If the user clicks on the contact information bar 124 the user can thenedit that data in a client contact info browser page 128 similar to thatshow for the new client page (64 in FIG. 14). The user can then revisethe client data in the client contact info browser page and save data,if the required fields are included 130, in a fashion similar to thatdescribed above for the new client page. Upon completion of the entry ofrevised data for the client, the edit existing client procedure 100presents the user with the client contact info page 122.

The user may then, if it desires, click on the goals review button 112,in response to which the edit existing client procedure 100 presents theuser with the client goals browser page 132 as shown in FIG. 18. Theuser may then click on the “edit goals” section 134 of the page 132, andin response, the edit existing client procedure 100 presents the userwith an edit goals browser page (not shown). Through this edit goalspage, the user may enter and save client goal data, generally 133, inthe SQL database as described above for the client contact information.Upon entry of the goals data for the client in this manner, the user isreturned to the client goals browser page 132. This page 132 depicts abar graph and quarterly statement of current year giving goals,generally 136, pie chart and listing of geographic distribution givinggoals for the year, generally 138, pie chart and listing of program typedistribution goals for the year, generally, 140, and as shown in FIG.19, pie chart and listing of stage of growth distribution goals for theyear, generally 142.

With reference now to FIGS. 5 and 18, the client goals page 132 includesthe horizontal client data buttons and, also, the main menu options onthe left side 139 of the client goals page 132. The user may then, if itdesires, click on the portfolio review button 116. In response, the editexisting client procedure 100 presents the user with, as shown in FIGS.5 and 20, the client portfolio browser page 146.

The client portfolio page 146 has a funded projects list section 148 anda potential project list section 150. The user may click on aportfolio/funded project bar 152 or research bar 156, and in response,the edit existing client procedure 100 provides the user with an addprojects to portfolio browser page 154 and associated procedures foradding and saving project data as described above for other data entryand saving functions. The user may also click on any listed project,e.g., 158, and in response, the edit existing client procedure 100 calls159, as shown in FIG. 9, the view project details procedure, generally160.

Referring back to FIGS. 5 and 20, the user may click on a remove label,e.g., 162, adjacent a listed research project, e.g., 158, in theresearch section 150. In response, a delete project procedure 157deletes the adjacent project, e.g., 158, from the page 146.

In addition, the user may right click on a listed research project,e.g., 158. In response, a move projects procedure 168 moves the selectedresearch project 158 into the portfolio projects list section 148 of theclient portfolio page 146.

The user may, if it desires, click on the accounts review button 118. Inresponse, and as shown in FIGS. 5 and 21, the edit existing clientprocedure 100 presents the user with an accounts review browser page110. The accounts review page 170 provides the user with fundsmanagement functions. These functions include transfer of funds from athird party financial entity into a third party foundation fundsmanagement service 172 associated with the business or entity providingthe present philanthropy management system and services. Once the fundsare received by the foundation funds management service as shown on thispage 170, the funds can be managed from this page 170 in order to, forexample, try to maximize the growth of the funds transferred into thefoundation funds management service.

The user can, if desired, click on the reports button 120. As shown inFIGS. 5 and 22, in response the edit existing client procedure 100presents the user with a client reports browser page 174. The user maythen click on any listed report in order to download it (as either a PDFor Microsoft Word document) or have it displayed on screen and printedthrough conventional browser page printing commands. The listed reportsinclude: (i) a current year portfolio report 176; (ii) a year-to-dategiving versus goals report 178; (iii) year-to-date and prior-year givingcomparison report 180; and (iv) a custom report 182.

With reference now to FIGS. 3 and 23, the user may click on the manageteam button 38 on the main menu page 32. The login and main menuprocedure 28 then initiates the manage team procedure 38. With referencenow to FIGS. 6 and 23, the manage team procedure 38 then presents theuser with the team browser page 184. The team browser page 184 presentsa list of the management team members, generally 186, and for each teammember, e.g., 188, the number of clients for the team member, generally190, and the last login date of the team member, generally 192. The teambrowser page 184 also includes the main menu options on the left side194, an add team member button 196, an e-mail my team button 198, and animport button 200.

If the user clicks on the add new team member button 196, the manageteam procedure 38 presents the user with, as shown in FIGS. 6, 24, and25, the add new team member page and function 202. The new team memberpage 202 allows the user to enter 234 and save in the SQL database avariety of information, generally 204, about a team member. Theinformation includes: name, 206, home phone 208, work phone 210, mobilephone 212, fax number 214, e-mail address 216, biography notes 218, andlogin user id and password 220. The user clicks on the submit button 222in order to save information entered on this new team member page 202,and the entered information is saved by the new team member function 202in the SQL database 232 provided all required information is present inthe entered information 230. The user may click on the cancel button 224to terminate saving of any information from the new team member page202, and thereby return to the manage team page 184 shown in FIG. 23.

With reference to both FIGS. 23 and 24, the user also may return to theteam page 184 by clicking on the my team indicia 226. The my teamindicia 226 is a part of the browser page history trail 228 shown at thetop of the browser page 202. This same type of browser page historyappears at the top of all browser pages provided by the present systemexcept the main menu page as shown in FIG. 12. The user may click on anyof the various page indicia in the browser history trail 228 and therebypull up the selected page.

With reference now to FIGS. 6, 23, and 25, the user may click on thename of a particular team member, e.g. 188, and the team procedure 38responds by presenting the user with the edit team member browser page230. This page 230 procures from the SQL database and displaysinformation, generally 233, about that particular team member. Thisinformation 233 includes the particular team member's user id 235, name236, phone number 238, and e-mail address 240. The user may edit any ofthis information, 233, and then click on the save bar 242 to save theinformation into the SQL database 247 provided the required informationas indicated on the page 231, is present. The user may also click on thecancel bar 246, which returns the user to the my team page 184. The editteam member page 231 includes the main menu options on the left side 248of the page 231.

With reference now to FIGS. 6, 23, and 26, from the team page 184, theuser may click on the e-mail my team button 198. The team procedure 38responds by presenting the user with the email team browser page andprocedure 250. The e-mail page includes a subject field 252 and messagebody field 254, along with send message 256 and cancel 258 buttons.Although not shown in FIG. 26, this page 250 may also include the mainmenu options on its left side 260. The user may send 261 an e-mail tothe team members listed on the team page 184 by clicking on the sendmessage button 256 provided at least one team member is listed on page184 and there is data included in, e.g., the subject field 262. The usermay also cancel sending ant message by clicking on the cancel button 258and thereby return to the team page 184.

With reference now to FIGS. 6 and 23, the user may import data regardingone or more team members by clicking the import team member button 200.When the user does so, the import team member function 270 presents theuser with a file import browser page (not shown) in which the userenters the name a file of team member data 272. When the user then hitsthe enter key or import button on the file import page, the import teammember function then parses the specified file 272 and imports the datafrom the file provided it is in the proper format. When the import iscompleted or otherwise terminated, the import team member function 270reports the completed or otherwise terminated import and returns theuser to the team page 184.

From the team page 184, the user may delete any listed team member 186by right clicking on the name of the particular team member, e.g., 188.This presents the user with a delete query 280, and if the user clickson the delete query and then confirms the deletion 282, the particularteam member, e.g., 188, will be deleted from the listing 186 on the teampage 184. If the user does not confirm the deletion 282, the user ispresented with the team page 184 by the delete team member function 280.

If the user clicks on the find projects indicia 288 on the main menuoptions on the left side 194 of the team page 184, the login and mainmenu procedure 28 of FIG. 3 is called. The login and main menu procedurethen calls the find projects procedure, which displays the associatedfind projects browser page 40 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 27. Withcontinuing reference to FIGS. 7 and 27, the find projects browser page40 presents the user with automatic search indicia 290, manual searchindicia 292, and browse all projects indicia 294, as well as with themain menu options 296. The automatic search indicia 290 and manualsearch indicia 292 include associated text explanations, e.g., 298, ofthe automatic search 300 and manual search 302 functions that are calledby clicking on the automatic search 290 and manual search 292,respectively. The browse all projects function 304 is called when theuser clicks on the browse all projects indicia or label 294.

With reference now to FIGS. 7 and 28, if the user clicks on theautomatic search indicia 290, the find projects procedure, generally306, calls the automatic search procedure 300, which presents the userwith the automatic search browser page 302. This page 302 presents twoqueries: (i) how much money the user seeks to give at this time (withassociated minimum amount indicia 307) 308; and (ii) what is the targetgift date 310. When the user enters the requested answers into theassociated fields 312, 314 respectively, and clicks on the go bar 316 onthe automatic search page 302, the automatic search function 300conducts a search of projects in the SQL database and presents the userwith the search results browser page 318. The search results page 318lists projects meeting the search criteria and presents the user withthree options 320, 322, 324 for each listed project. By clicking on aparticular listed project, a drop down menu provides the user with thethree options: (i) add selected project to research portfolio indicia320; (ii) fund selected project 324; and (iii) view project details 324.

If the user clicks on the view project details option 324, the findprojects procedure 40 calls up the view project details procedure 160 ofFIG. 9. With reference now to FIGS. 9 and 31, this procedure 160accesses from the SQL, database data for the particular listed projectand presents the user with the view project browser page 326. The viewproject page 326 displays for the particular listed project: a detailedproject description 328; project location and primary contact data 330;project focus details (economic, infrastructure, social, and spiritual)332; project growth stage 333; and current and expected budget data 334.This page 326 also presents the user with a fund project label 336, asave this project label 338, and buttons providing the user with accessto photos 340, videos 342, articles 344, news 346, and reports 348 forthe particular project shown on the page 326. Other information andfunctions that can be included are (i) a listing of people involved inthe project 347, and (ii) other donor recommendations for this project349. The view project page 326 also includes the main menu options onits left side 356.

If the user clicks on the fund the project button 336, the find projectsprocedure 306 calls the fund project procedure 350 as shown in FIGS. 7and 10. The fund project procedure 350 first checks the SQL database todetermine if the identified project requires funding 378. If so, thefund project procedure 350 presents the user with the fund project (giveto a project/organization) browser page 352 for the particular projectsshown on the project/organization profile page 326, as shown in FIG. 31.If not, the fund project procedure displays an error message indicatingthat the project is funded 380.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 10 and 32, the fund project page 352displays the brief project description information 360, a donationamount field 362, and payment method query section 364. The paymentquery section 364 allows the user to select, by clicking one among threepayment options: by deduction from the user's (or donor's) account 366;by wire transfer from an account 368 identified on the page 352; or bycheck 370 to an address identified on the page 352. After entering anamount and identifying the payment method, the user may click on thesubmit button 372, which causes this amount to be recorded in the SQLdatabase as a donation 376 to the identified project on the page 352.The fund project procedure 350 then issues a donation/fundingconfirmation message page or window 382. The user may instead click onthe cancel button 374, and the fund project procedure 350 responds bypresenting the user with the prior project/organization profile window326 of FIG. 31. The fund project page 352 also includes the main menuoptions on its left side 384.

The user may click on the options button 384 on this page 352 (or on theedit options label 42 the main menu page 33 of FIG. 12), and the loginand main menu procedure 28 is called, which in turn calls the optionsmenu procedure 392 of FIG. 8. With reference to FIGS. 8 and 33, theoptions menu procedure 392 displays the options menu browser page 394.The options menu page 394 presents the user with an edit personalinformation label 396, an edit preferences label 398, and a changepassword label 400. This page 394 also displays the main menu options onthe left side 402.

If the user clicks on the edit personal information label 396, theoptions menu procedure 392 calls the edit account information function404, which displays the edit personal info browser page 406 as shown inFIG. 34. With reference now to FIGS. 8 and 34, the options menuprocedure 392 procures the user's account information from the SQLdatabase and displays that information in the edit personal info page406. This information includes the user's name 408, address 410, phonenumber 412, e-mail address 414, and e-mail format 416. The user may thenedit the field, e.g., 414, and click on the submit button 418. The editaccount information function 404 stores in the SQL database the updatedinformation 426 shown in the page 406 provided the minimally requiredfields are included 420. The user can instead click on the cancel button422, and the options menu procedure 392 returns the user to the optionsmenu page 394 of FIG. 33.

With reference now to FIGS. 7 and 27, if the user clicks on the manualsearch label 292, the find projects procedure 306 calls the manualsearch function 302 and presents the user with the manual searchbrowser, or web, page 462 as shown in FIG. 29. With reference now toFIGS. 7 and 29, the manual search page 462 includes a search field 464in which the user may enter a search term. The user may then click onthe search bar 466, and the manual search function 302 will search theSQL database for one or more projects including the search term in thetext fields for them 467. The results of the search are then presentedto the user via the search results function 318 as discussed above.

In the manual search page 462, the user may refine the search byclicking on a listed geographic region 468, a listed project focus ormain objective 470, and a listed stage of growth of the project 472. Theuser may initiate a SQL database search for projects and organizationsmeeting the selected criteria by clicking on the search bar 466.

With reference again to FIGS. 7 and 27, if the users clicks on thebrowse all projects label 294, the find projects procedure 306 calls thebrowse all projects function 304. With reference now to FIGS. 7 and 30,the browse all projects function 304 displays the browse all projectsbrowser page 474. The browse all projects page 474 presents the userwith a listing of projects and organizations seeking charitable fundingin the SQL database. For additional projects in the SQL database (notshown), the user may click on the next page 480 and previous page 482bars on the page 474. The user may view the details of any listedproject by clicking on the box adjacent the project name, e.g., 483, andclicking the add to my research bar 484. The user may also choose togive to selected projects, e.g., 483, by clicking on the give toselected projects bar 486. Clicking on the add to my research bar 484calls the add selected projects function 320 in the find projectsprocedure 306, and clicking on the give to selected projects bar 486calls the fund selected projects 322 in that procedure 306.

With reference now to FIGS. 8 and 33, if the user clicks on the editpreferences label 398, the options menu procedure 392 calls the editpreferences function 424 and presents the user with the edit preferencesbrowser page (not shown). The edit preferences page may includeinformation indicating the user's donation preferences in order for theSQL database to utilize this preference information in ordering projectswhen the user conducts project/organization searches for possible givingas described above. If the user enters required information 430, theedit preferences function 424 stores the preference information for theuser in the SQL database 432 and returns the user to the options menu394 of FIG. 33. Otherwise and with reference to FIGS. 8 and 34, the editpreferences function 424 does not store the information and continues topresent the user with the edit personal info page 406.

With reference again to FIGS. 8 and 33, if the user clicks on the changepassword label 400, the options menu procedure 392 calls the changepassword procedure 435 and presents the user with the change passwordbrowser page 434 in FIG. 35. With reference to FIGS. 8 and 35, the usercan change the password by correctly entering and re-entering a newpassword 436, 438 and then clicking on the save label 440. If the userhas correctly entered the information 442, the change password function435 stores the changed password in the SQL database. If the informationis incorrect 442, the change password function 435 continues to displaythe change password page 434. If the user clicks on the cancel button446, the options menu procedure 392 returns the user to the options menu394 in FIG. 33.

The user may logout from any page, e.g., 394, by clicking on the logoutbutton 448 in the main menu options.

Business and operational functions or features that can be provided bythe above-described charitable portfolio management system (either asdescribed above or by modification of the above-described systems) are:

-   -   secure, password protected access;    -   web-based, browser independent and accessible from any        Internet-enabled device;    -   provides alternative text for images presented on web pages,        making the site more user friendly including to those who may        need to have web page text read to them by automated readers in        order to maneuver through the site;    -   ability to input giving goals that specify objectives such as:        geographic giving objectives; types of projects sought; and        acceptable levels of risk, all of which can be entered by or for        the philanthropist;    -   ability to view giving goals in chart format, such as a pie        chart showing the percentage of giving the donor seeks to donate        to various geographical regions, or a bar chart depicting        planned giving by quarter for the year;    -   ability to conduct general or detailed searches for projects or        organizations that seek funding, from simple browsing through        projects, to advanced criteria-based searching, to fully        automated searching using giving goals as the criteria;    -   ability to create and maintain at least three giving portfolio        categorizations: (i) funded portfolio listing of links to        “project profiles” for projects or organizations to which the        user has donated in the current calendar year; (ii) research        portfolio containing link to “project profiles” of projects or        organizations the user can research; and (iii) ready to fund        portfolio containing links to “project profiles” for projects or        organizations that the user has researched and selected for        funding;    -   ability to freely move project links from the research portfolio        to the ready to fund portfolio;    -   ability to deposit links to “project profiles” in the research        portfolio and/or ready to fund portfolio at any time;    -   ability to sort folder contents for the funded, research, and        ready to fund portfolios alphabetically (both ascending and        descending);    -   ability to run browser viewable and downloadable reports (as PDF        or Microsoft Word files) depicting giving portfolio allocations        and positions;    -   ability for users to receive e-mail notification when news is        released for a project or organization that is in a user's        funded portfolio, with a link to the news appearing beside the        name of the project/organization;    -   ability to input transactions into the system if completed        outside the system;    -   ability to submit comments on projects/organizations so that        others using the system can view them;    -   ability to track and manage money (including using a variety of        investment options) that the user may donate in the future, as        well as ability to track, including through downloading of PDF        or Microsoft Word reports, financial transactions with the        system, including transaction date, amount, type, and status;    -   ability to view, and download, as PDF or Microsoft Word        documents, project profiles for each project or organization to        which the user has donated funds;    -   ability to request project or organization assessment reports        from system administrators, such reports can then be e-mailed to        the users when available;    -   ability to indicate a coach for the client on the client detail        page;    -   ability to manage a list of their clients in the system,        including ability to add, edit, and delete clients, with each        client having personal portfolios manageable by the user and        others to whom the user has given permission;    -   ability to view and export philanthropic prospectus and other        reports that are co-branded with the user's business name and        logo;    -   ability to manage (add, delete, or edit information about) a        team of users, each of whom can maintain their own list of        clients in the system;    -   a team member's clients can be inherited by the team manager        when the team member's account is deleted or diverted; and team        managers can manually reassign clients among team members or        themselves at any time;    -   ability for team managers to assign a commission percentage to        the manager for transactions by team members;    -   ability for users to designate a commission fee to them from        their clients when they perform transactions with the system;    -   automatic advising of coaches when new reports are available for        projects or organizations that their clients have funded;    -   ability to restrict team managers from editing team members or        clients unless permissioned to do so by the team members; and    -   ability to restrict coaches or donors from gaining access to        secure projects until approved.

With reference now to FIG. 36, the preferred system, apparatus, andmethod includes a project assessment system, apparatus, and method,generally 510. This system, apparatus, and method 510 is initiated by alogin and main menu procedure 512. This procedure includes a loginfunction 514, a main menu function, 515, a my projects function 516, amy team function 518, a search function 520, an options function 522,and an admin function 524. When the user first accesses the projectassessment, such as by clicking on project assessment label (not shown)on one or more introductory web-site page (not shown) for a business orentity supporting this system, the user is presented with the loginbrowser, or web, page 526. This page 526 operates similarly to the loginpage 30 of FIG. 11, and upon entry of an appropriate user name andpassword approved by the SQL database, the login and main menu procedure512 of FIG. 36 calls the main menu function 515. In turn the main menufunction 515 displays the main menu browser page 528 as shown in FIG.47.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 36 and 47, the main menu page 528includes a horizontal, upper main menu bar 530 that includes my projects532, my team 534, search 536, options 538, admin menu 540, logout 550(not shown), and help 551 indicia (collectively the “assessment mainmenu options”). The main menu page 528 also includes lower, verticallyaligned new project indicia 542, my projects indicia 544, my teamindicia 546, search indicia 548, and logout indicia 550.

The main menu page 528 (and other pages shown in FIGS. 48-72) includes alogout label 551 and help label 553 (on which a user may click to logoutor procure help information in a fashion well known to those skilled inthe art). These logout and help features may also be included in thepages in the charitable portfolio portion of the overall systemexplained above.

If the user clicks on the my projects indicia 542, the login and mainmenu procedure 512 calls the my projects function 516, which calls themy projects procedure 552 of FIG. 37. This procedure 552 displays the myprojects browser page 554 of FIG. 48.

With reference now to FIGS. 37 and 48, the my projects page 554 includesthe assessment main menu options, generally 556, and a my projectslisting, generally 558, a team projects listing 560, an upper newproject button 559, an upper delete checked projects button 561, and alower new project bar 562. The my projects listing 558 lists all projector organization names previously selected by the user through the SQLdatabase as well as project status, generally 564, and project action,generally 566, adjacent the project name listing, generally 568. Byclicking on project box, e.g., 570, adjacent a particular listedproject, e.g., 571, and then clicking on the delete checked projectbutton 561, the particular listed project 571 and its associatedinformation is deleted from the user's my project listing 558 when theuser confirms the intention to delete that project 571. By clicking onthe new project button 559 or the lower new project bar 562, the myprojects procedure 552 calls the add new project function 574. Thisfunction 574 displays the new project (general) browser page 576 ofFIGS. 49 and 50.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 37 and 48, the user may take actionfor a listed project by right clicking on the project action label orarea, e.g., 578 adjacent a listed project, e.g., 571. Right clicking onthis label 578 causes a drop down window (not shown) to provide projectaction options such as check status or edit/submit. If the user selectsthe check status label for example, the check status indicia appears inthis label, e.g., 578. If the user then left clicks on the check statuslabel, e.g., 578, the check status function is called 582, and the useris presented with a status display (not shown) for the project.

If the user instead selects the edit/submit label, e.g., 578, in thedrop down window, the edit/submit status indicia appears in the labelarea, e.g., 586. If the user then clicks on the submit indicia, e.g.,588, my projects procedure 552 calls the submit project function 580.The submit function marks the project as submitted and submits it forreview by project assessment personnel.

If the user has selected the edit/submit label for a project, and if theuser then left clicks on the edit indicia 590, the my projects procedure552 calls the edit project function 592. This procedure calls the editexisting project procedure 594 of FIG. 38, which displays the editprojects browser page 596 of FIGS. 51 and 52.

Still referring to FIGS. 37 and 48, a team projects section 560 of themy projects page 554 lists all projects selected by team members forlisting on this page 554. For each listed project in this section 560,this section 560 also includes input by indicia (which team member) 598and status and action indicia, generally 600. The status and actionindicia, generally 560, operate as set forth above for the identicallynamed indicia and labels in the my projects listing section 568 of themy project page 554.

If the user clicks on the new project bar 562 in the my projects page554 or instead clicks on the new project indicia 542 on the main menupage 528 of FIG. 47, the my projects procedure 552 calls the add newproject function 574. The add new project function displays the newproject browser page 576 of FIG. 49.

With reference now to FIGS. 37, 49, and 50, the new project page 576includes the assessment main menu options and (i) a new projectinstruction paragraph 604, (ii) a required project name field 606, (iii)a required project security field and associated drop down menu 608,(iv) a project mailing address section 610 with certain required fields,(v) a project shipping address 612, (vi) and general project contactinformation 614 including website, phone, and fax numbers. The newproject page 576 also includes a create or next label 616 and a returnto my projects label 618. The new project page 576 also includes ageneral info label 626, an organization label 628, a description label630, a financial label 632, a classification label 634, a contacts label636, and a media label 638 (collectively called the “edit project menu”)on the left side 639 of the page 624.

In order to enter a new project into the SQL database and thereby makeit available to others using the project assessment system and theabove-described project management system (shown in FIGS. 3-35), a usermust enter at least the required information on this page 576 and thenclick the next label 616 or the general label 626. The user can insteadclick on the return label 618 to return to the my projects page 554 ofFIG. 48.

If the user clicks on the create or next label 616 or the general label626, the my projects procedure 552 saves the entered information to theSQL database 622 provided the required fields are entered 620. After thesave to the SQL database, the my projects procedure 552 calls the editproject procedure 592 of FIG. 38, which displays the edit project(general) browser page 624 shown in FIGS. 51 and 52.

With reference now to FIGS. 38, 51, and 52, this page 624 includes theassessment main menu, the edit project menu, and a page indicator arrow627 showing that this general info, or edit project (general), page 624is displayed on the user's screen. The edit project (general) page 624also includes the project data, generally 640, entered and stored forthe project through the prior data entry on the new project page 576 ofFIGS. 49 and 50. The edit project (general) page 624 also includes thenext label 642 and return to my projects label 644.

In this page 624, the user may edit the information shown on the page624. If the user clicks on the next label 642 or clicks on any among theorganization 628, description 630, financial 632, classification 634,contacts 636, or media 638 labels, the information remaining on the page640 is stored in the SQL database provided the required fields areentered on the page 624. If the user has clicked on the next label 642or the organization label 628 and the information 640 on the page 624 isstored in the SQL database in this fashion, the edit existing projectprocedure 592 calls the edit organization function 644. The editorganization function 644 displays the edit project (organization)browser page 646 as shown in FIG. 53.

With reference now to FIGS. 38 and 53, the edit project (organization)page 646 includes the assessment main menu and the edit project menu aswell as a organization selection field and associated drop down menu 648of available organizations in the SQL database. By clicking on the dropdown menu 648 and the desired organization in a drop down menu (notshown) that appears in response, the thus selected organization is savedto the SQL database for the project being edited as shown in the prioredit project general page 624 shown in FIGS. 51 and 52. The user mayinstead click on either: (i) the edit button 650, which calls the editexisting organization procedure 652; (ii) the new button 654, whichcalls the new organization function 653, which calls the manageorganizations procedure 970 of FIG. 44; or (iii) the next button 655,which calls the description procedure 656. Of course, the user mayinstead click among other labels in the edit project menu on the page646. Also, the user may click on the cancel, return to my projects pagebutton 658, which returns the user to my projects page 556 of FIG. 48.

If the user clicks on the next button 655, the description function 656presents the user with the edit project (description) browser page 660of FIG. 54. With reference to FIGS. 38 and 54, this page 660 includesthe assessment main menu and the edit projects menu and also includesproject detail fields, generally 662. The project detail fields 662includes fields for: project overview 664; a detailed description of theproject for which funding is sought 666; a project problem statement668; project (organization) constituency 670; activities and strategiesdetail 672; organizational authority structure detail 674; and projectgovernance detail 676. The page 660 also includes a next button 678, acancel/return to my project button 680, and the page indicator arrow 638indicating the identity of the present page 660 on the user's screen.

After the user has entered the data sought by the project detail fields662, the user may click the next button 678. As a result, providedrequired fields are entered 682, the entered information is stored inthe SQL database for the associated project and organization 684. If theuser then clicks on the next label 678, the description function 656calls the financial function 688.

With reference now to FIGS. 38, 55, and 56, the financial function 688displays the edit project (financial) browser page 690. This pageincludes the assessment main menu and the edit projects menu. It alsoincludes financial data fields and selections, generally 692. Thefinancial data includes fields for entry of: fiscal year start date 694,matching grant details 696, total funds requested 698, funding requestperiod 700, project budget 702, annual expenses 704, operations expenses706, program expenses 708, and fundraising expenses 710. This page alsoincludes a next button 712 and cancel/return to my projects button 714.

After the user has entered information 692 in this page 690, includingthe required information 716, and clicks on the next button 712, theinformation entered on the page 692 is stored in the SQL database inassociation with the particular project to which the information relates694. The financial function 688 then calls the classification function720.

With reference now to FIG. 38, the classification function 720 displaysa classification browser page (not shown) that includes the assessmentmain menu and the edit project menu as well as the next button (notshown) and cancel/return button (not shown) as described above. In thisclassification page, the user enters project classification information722. The project classification information includes classification dataabout the geographic region(s) for the project, project focus, andfunding stage, of the types shown in the project report on the manualsearch page 462 of FIG. 29. If the user has entered all requiredinformation in this classification page 724, the user may click on itsnext button (not shown), and the entered classification data is storedby the SQL database in association with the particular project for whichdata is being entered 726.

The classification function 720 then calls the contact function 728. Thecontact function 728 displays a contact browser page (not shown) thatallows the user to enter and store to the SQL database contactinformation for the then involved project in addition to the contactinformation editable in other edit pages 729 such as shown in FIG. 65below. Additional contact information can include bank wire instructionsor information identifying how to contact other persons or entitiespossibly pertinent to the project.

When completed, the contact function 728 calls the edit media function730. The edit media function 730 then calls an edit media browser page(not shown) that allows the user to edit and store to the SQL database,in association with the particular project then involved, various typesof media such as photos, videos. articles, news, and reports 731 of thetype that will then be retrievable for the project as shown in theproject/organization browser page 326 of FIG. 31.

The media function 730 then calls the my projects procedure 552 of FIG.37. The my projects procedure 552 then displays the my projects page 556of FIG. 48. The user may then click on, for example, the my team indicia736 on the my projects page 556. This calls the login and main menuprocedure 512 of FIG. 36, and this procedure 512 calls the my teamprocedure 738 of FIG. 39. The my team procedure 738 then displays a teambrowser page (not shown) that looks much like, and operates much like,the team page 184 of FIG. 23 and team procedure 38 of FIG. 6.

Referring now to FIGS. 36 and 47, if the user clicks on the searchindicia 436 of on the main menu page 528 of FIG. 47 (or on any otherpage containing the assessment main menu), the search function 520 iscalled. With reference now to FIG. 40, the search function 520 displaysa search browser page (not shown) that includes the standard assessmentmain menu and that allows the user to search for projects by keyword 740or user name 742 (i.e., projects included in a portfolio of a given teammember). When the user enters a keyword or user name and submits thesearch, the search for projects procedure 520 searches the SQL databasefor project(s), if any, meeting the search criteria (keyword or username) and displays the names of the project meeting the criteria 744.This project display browser page 744 presents the user with options of:editing a particular project 746 (which calls the edit existing projectprocedure 592 of FIG. 38); (ii) submitting a project for funding 748;(iii) checking current project status 750; or (iv) deleting a selectedproject from the SQL database for the user's team.

If the user clicks on a project to edit it, the edit project function746 calls the edit existing project procedure 592 shown in FIG. 38. Ifthe user instead clicks on, for example, the admin menu indicia on theassessment main menu, the login and main menu procedure 512 is called,which in turn calls the system administration procedure 752 of FIG. 42.

With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 57, the administration procedure 752first displays an admin menu browser page 754. This page 754 includesthe assessment main menu and three action options: (i) a main projectslabel 756; (ii) a manage users label 758; and (iii) a return to mainmenu label 760. If the user clicks on the main projects label 756, themain projects function 756 displays the manage projects browser page 762as shown in FIG. 58.

With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 58, the manage projects page 762includes the standard assessment main menu and three action options: (i)review projects label 768; (ii) approved projects report label 770; and(iii) return to main menu label 772. If the user clicks on the reviewprojects label 768, the review projects function 774 is called, which inturn calls the review projects procedure 776 as shown in FIG. 45.

With reference now to FIGS. 45 and 59, the review projects procedure 776first displays a review projects browser page 778. This page 778includes the standard assessment main menu and a list, e.g., 780, of theparticular projects, e.g., 782, in the portfolio for the particularuser's team and the particular user, e.g., 784, shown as logged in andusing the system on the page 778. This list is drawn, of course, fromthe SQL database. This page 778 also includes a status column 788 and anaction column 790 for reporting status, and the next action required foreach project 780 listed on the page 778 in order to approve the projectfor receipt of donations by other users of the system, including theuser's team.

If the user clicks on a check-box adjacent one or more projects, e.g.,784, and then clicks on the delete button 786, the checked projects aredeleted from the page 778 and from the portfolio for that user 784 andfor his team.

If the user clicks on a “review” label, e.g., 792 for a given project782, the review projects procedure 776 displays. as shown in FIG. 60,the review project—general info browser page 794 for the given project782. With reference now to FIGS. 45 and 60, this page 794 presentsgeneral information for the given project entered as described above inconjunction with the my projects 552 and edit existing project 592procedures of FIGS. 37 and 38, respectively. This general informationpage 794 includes the project name 795, input id (the user name of theuser that entered this project into the system) 796, input date 797,project name 798, brief project description 799, project description800, project notes 801, project mailing address 802, project shippingaddress 803, and website url 804.

This page 794 also includes a vertical “review project menu” 806 on itsleft side 808. The review project menu 806 allows the user the option ofclicking on a general info label 810, an organization label 812, adescription label 814, a financial label 816, a classification label818, a contacts label 820, a media label 822, and an evaluation label824. This page 794 also includes a page indicator arrow 826 thatindicates the identity of the particular page 794 then being displayedon screen.

In the example shown in the particular screen shot of FIG. 60, manyfields, e.g., 800, are blank—include no data, e.g., 800, 801, 803. Theuser can see that, in order to continue with the assessment of theproject (in order to qualify it for charitable donations) the usershould first enter the data sought in the empty field(s).

The user may next click on the organization label 812, and the reviewprojects procedure 776 calls the review organizational info function828. This function 828 displays a review organizational info page (notshown), which presents organizational informational fields for theproject. As with the general info page 794 of FIG. 60, the user can seethe information that has been entered as well as fields that may not yetbe determined and entered into the SQL database for association anddisplay in connection with project on this organizational info page.

The user may instead click on the description label 814 (or insteadclick on the next label 827), and the review projects procedure 776calls the review project description function 830. The review projectdescription function 830 then displays the review project-descriptionpage 832 of FIG. 61.

With reference now to FIGS. 45 and 61, the review project-descriptionspage 832 includes the following information fields for the project: theproject name and input data, generally 831 shown also on the generalinfo page 794 of FIG. 60; the project's problem statement 834; theproject's constituency 836; the project's program description 838; theproject's goals, objectives, activities/strategies 840; the project'sorganizational authority structure 842; and the project's governance844. This page also includes a next button 846 and the review projectmenu.

The user should also review this page to ensure that adequate data hasbeen entered and stored for the project. When adequate information hasbeen entered into all fields on this page 832, the user and others canuse this information to assess the project and determine whether itshould or should not qualify for inclusion an a giving portfolio for theuser or his or her team members (or their clients or donors).

If the user clicks on the next button 846 or the financial label, thereview projects procedure 776 of FIG. 45 calls the review projectfinancial info function 848. This function 848 displays the reviewprojects—financial browser page 850 of FIG. 62.

With reference now to FIGS. 45 and 62, the review projects—financialbrowser page 850 includes the assessment main menu, the review projectsmenu, and the project name and input data, generally 852. This page 852,as all others in the project assessment system, also includes the breadcrumb, or browser page, history 854. By clicking on any page label,e.g., 856, in this history, that particular page in this history 854represented by the clicked page label is displayed.

This page also includes the following information fields: total projectbudget amount 858, project funds requested 860, project funding requestperiod 862, matching grant information 864, fiscal year start date 866,project total annual expenses 868, and project expense breakdown 870.The user may review and determine the adequacy and acceptability of thisinformation and associated project as explained above in connection withFIG. 61.

If the user next clicks on the next button 872, or instead on theclassification button 818, the review projects procedure 776 calls thereview project classification function 850. This function 850 thendisplays the review project—classification browser page 852 of FIGS. 63and 64.

With reference now to FIGS. 45, 63, and 64, the reviewproject—classification page 852 is structured identically to the reviewproject—financial page 850 of FIG. 62, except that it 852 includes thefollowing project information fields: economic development focuspercentages for the project 854; infrastructure development focuspercentages for the project 856; social development focus percentagesfor the project 858; and spiritual development focus percentages for theproject 860. The user may review and determine the adequacy andacceptability of this information and associated project as explainedabove in connection with FIG. 62, for example.

If the user clicks on the next button 862, the review projects procedure776 calls the review projects contacts function 864. The review projectcontacts function 864 then displays the review project—contacts browserpage 866 of FIG. 65.

Referring now to FIGS. 45 and 65, this page 866 is structuredidentically to the review project—financial page 850 of FIG. 62 exceptthat it includes the following information project information field:contacts 868. The user may review and determine the adequacy andacceptability of this information and associated project as explainedabove in connection with FIG. 62, for example.

If the user clicks on the next button 870 on this page 866, the reviewprojects procedure 776 calls the review projects media function 872. Thereview project contacts function 872 then displays the reviewproject—media browser page 874 of FIG. 66.

Referring now to FIGS. 45 and 66, this page 874 is structuredidentically to the review project—financial page 850 of FIG. 62 exceptthat it includes the following information project information field:media 876. The user may review and determine the adequacy andacceptability of this information and associated project information asexplained above in connection with FIG. 62, for example.

If the user clicks on the next button 878 on this page 874, the reviewprojects procedure 776 calls the evaluation page function 880. Theevaluation page function 880 then displays the review project—evaluationbrowser page 874 of FIG. 67.

Referring now to FIGS. 45 and 67, this page 874 is structuredidentically to the review project—financial page 850 of FIG. 62 exceptthat (i) it includes a save button 885 rather than a next button and(ii) the following interactive project information field: a reviewer'snotes input field 876. This page 874 also includes the user/reviewerwith the choice of: approve project 878, reject project 880, or leaveproject as is for now 882. If the user approves the project by clickingthe approve project click circle 878, 884 and the save button 885, theproject administrator is automatically notified (preferably by e-mail)of the approval 886. Also, the approval is recorded in the SQL database888. This “approval” would then show up as an “approval” on the reviewprojects page 778 of FIG. 59 for the particular approved project. Inaddition, this approval process renders this project available forretrieval of the project information for this project in the portfoliomanagement system described above in connection with FIGS. 3-35.

With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 57, if the user clicks on the manageusers label 758, the system administration procedure 752 calls themanage users function 758. With reference to FIGS. 42 and 68, the manageusers function 752 then displays the manage users browser page 890. Themanage users page 890 includes the assessment main menu and standarduser and user login information, generally 892, at the top of the page890. The manage users page 890 also includes an edit user field 894, anew user account label 896, a change user password label 898, and returnto admin menu label 900.

The edit user field 894 includes a drop down menu button 897. If theuser clicks on this button 897, the names of the team members on theuser's team appear on a drop down menu (not shown). The user may thenclick on the name of any team member shown and then click on the editbutton 899. The edit user function 902 then displays with an edit useraccount browser page 904 as shown in FIG. 72.

With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 72, the edit user account browserpage 904 includes the assessment main menu and the following informationediting fields for the selected user (i.e., the user/team memberidentified in the edit user field 894 in the preceding manage users page890 of FIG. 68). These editing fields include: user name 906; user phoneand fax numbers 908; user email address 910; user biography 912; whetherthe user has administrative privileges on the system 914 (selected bydrop down menu); whether the user is a team manager for others 916(selected by drop down menu); and the team manager for the user (if any)918 (selected by drop down menu). This page 904 also includes a changepassword label 920, a delete user label 922, and a save button 924.

If the user clicks on the save button 924 and the required informationhas been entered/edited on the page 904, the edit user function 902saves the information entered on this page 904 to the SQL database. Ifthe required information is not entered, a warning message appears onscreen (not shown). If the user clicks on the delete user button 926,the user whose information is shown in the edit user fields is deletedfrom the SQL database.

With reference now to FIGS. 42, 68, and 69, if the user clicks on thenew user account label 896, the manage users function 758 displays thenew user account page 928 shown in FIG. 69. With reference now to FIGS.42 and 69, this page 928 includes the assessment main menu and presentsthe new user information entry fields including name 930, contactinformation 932, biography 934, user id and password 936, and whetherthe user has system administrator privileges, team manager privileges,or team member status 938.

If the user has entered the required information in these new userinformation entry fields and then clicks on the save new user button940, the information shown on the page 928 is saved to the SQL database(provided also of course that the password has been entered properly)for the new user identified on this page 928. The new user function 941then displays the manage users page 890 of FIG. 68.

If the user instead clicks on the cancel button 942, the user isreturned to the manage users page 890 of FIG. 68 without any saving ofany information entered on the new user account page 928 of FIG. 69.

With reference now to FIGS. 42 and 68, if the user clicks on the changeuser password label 898, the manage users function 758 displays thechange user password browser page 944 shown in FIG. 71. With referencenow to FIGS. 42 and 71, in this page 944 the operating user may edit thepasswords of other users, which appear in a drop down menu 946 for theoperating user 948 depending on the operating user's access privileges.If the operating user is an administrator, the operating user 948 andall other users will appear in the drop down menu 946. If the operatinguser 948 is a team manger without administrator access, the teammanagers assigned to that team manager will appear in the drop down menu946. If the operating user has properly changed the password fields 950for a particular other user and clicks on the save password button 952,the new password is saved in the SQL database for the particular otheruser. If, on the other hand, the user clicks on the cancel button 954,the change password function 958 returns the user to the manage userspage 890 of FIG. 68.

If the user clicks on the options label 972 on the assessment main menu,the login and main menu procedure of FIG. 36 is called, which in turncalls 552 the manage organizations procedure 970 of FIG. 44. The manageorganizations procedure 970 displays an organization options page 976,which presents the user with the choice of creating a new organization978 or editing an existing organization 980. If the user clicks on thenew organization label 978, the user is presented with a neworganization browser page (not shown) through which the user may enterand save information about a new organization. If the user clicks on theedit existing organization label 980, the user is presented with an editexisting organization browser page (not shown) through which the usermay edit information, and save the edited information, about an existingorganization. All of these pages include the assessment main menu andassociated functions described above.

It can thus be seen that the above-explained charitable projectassessment system provides an automated system for input, editing,review, and evaluation of charitable projects and organizations forpossible donations from donors or those who manage donations, preferablythrough use of the above-explained charitable portfolio managementsystem. The project assessment also allows a user to create automatedgrant proposals that are maintained and updated on a regular basis.Regular updating of the proposals, according to the guidelines providedin association with the project assessment system, renders the fundingprocess more informed and less risky for donors and those who manage,locate, or implement donations for donors.

Once a user has input all data for a project sought by the projectassessment system, the project is ready for review by the systemadministrators or other operator in order to determine if the project isqualified for funding. If qualified, the project is marked as approved,which renders it accessible, through a common or separate SQL database,to users of the portfolio management system.

The above-described preferred philanthropic portfolio management systemand the charitable project assessment system both consist of threedistinct parts: (i) a browser and preferably web-based andweb-accessible graphical user interface; (ii) server-side businesslogic; and (iii) central relational SQL database for storing, revising,displaying, and searching data.

The graphical user interface consists of browser or web pages builtusing a combination of HTML, JavaScript, Cascading Style Sheets, andActive Server Pages. The web pages are served by Microsoft's InternetInformation Server running on a Windows 2000 Server. Cascading StyleSheets are used to control the look of the text on the pages, and customdeveloped graphics contribute to the overall look and feel of the pagesand the navigation system. The navigation system consists of a basicmenu system that identifies the top-level categories of the application.Once a top-level category has been chosen from the menu, the sub-levelcategories are available for selection. Near the top of each page, thereis a “bread crumb” trail that displays the history of the pages the userhas moved through to arrive at the current page.

The server-side business logic consists of a series of traditionalcomponents: .NET components and web services. Traditional components arebuilt with Visual Basic and compiled into DLL (Dynamic Link Library)files that are hosted on a Windows 2000 Server. .NET components arecreated with the C# programming language and are hosted on a Windows2000 Server that has the Microsoft .NET SDK installed. Microsoft .NETWeb Services are also used to execute certain business processes. WebServices provide an HTTP interface for executing business processes inthe philanthropic portfolio management system. The processes that areimplemented as Web Services will be called by many of the Active ServerPages as users use this system. Additionally, the Web Services also maybe called by additional systems that can be developed and added to thesystem in the future.

The relational SQL database portion of the systems utilize Microsoft'sSQL Database Server as noted above. This SQL database consists of aseries of tables that contain rows and columns that identify and definethe data in the SQL database. The data in the database consists of:

-   -   information about each user and team in the system;    -   portfolios for each philanthropist that uses the system (both        direct and indirect users);    -   information about each of the charitable projects and        organizations that are approved to receive funding in the        system, including:        -   general project information;        -   organization information;        -   contact information for people or entities associated with            the project;        -   project classification information;        -   project geographical involvement;        -   detailed project descriptions and goals;        -   media information, including pictures, movies, articles, and            other documents.    -   information about each philanthropist's goal for giving;    -   transactional detail about each charitable financial transaction        that is handled by the system; and    -   project assessment information for projects currently under        review and others already reviewed.        The SQL database also utilizes stored procedures for performing        many database related functions such as inserts, updates, and        deletions, as well as queries by the users and the systems. The        inclusion of stored procedures provides an added level of        security and performance to the database component of the        overall system.

The SQL database may be structured as one database, as described above,supporting both the portfolio management system and the projectassessment system. Alternatively, the SQL database may be two separatedatabases, one for each such system. In the latter case, projects aretransferred when approved from the project assessment system SQLdatabase to the portfolio management system SQL database.

While the preferred database consists of one or more SQL databases,other database systems and formats, including those that are notrelational, may be utilized. The same is true of the other systemcomponents, such as the operating system for example. Although theapplicants preferred embodiment is a Windows 2000 operating system,other operating systems may be used, such as Unix, Linux, or others thatmay run on Apple Macs or other types of computers.

The foregoing systems and methods may be utilized in order to provide amethod of doing of doing business. The business earns revenue in one ormore of the following ways:

-   -   charging a periodic fee for access to, or operating or        maintaining, one system or both systems or data maintained by        the system(s) or their users;    -   charging a transactional fee for donation transactions that take        place through one system or both systems or in conjunction with        use of one or both of them;    -   receiving a commission or fee for money managed or donated        through or with one systems or both systems;    -   charging a fee for the amount of time spent using one system or        both systems; and    -   charging a fee for conducting a charitable project or        organization assessment.        The term “fee” may include forms of remuneration other than        cash, including for example barter remuneration.

It is to be understood that term “charitable project” can include“charitable organization” or other entity or activity pursuingcharitable donations, resources, or funding.

The system described above is generally architected as two applicationsystems: the philanthropic portfolio management system and thecharitable project assessment system. Both systems preferably accessinformation from the SQL database(s). These two applications could becombined into one system provide much the same functionality, however.Similarly, these two applications could be divided up into moreapplications if desired.

We claim:
 1. A charitable donation management system of the typeaccessible by a plurality of remote users through a communicationsnetwork, the charitable donation management system comprising incombination: A. at least one server computing system in communicationwith said communications network; B. one or more charitable projectdatabases mounted on the server computing system, the one or morecharitable project databases including: the identity of a plurality ofpre-approved charitable projects; financial information about saidplurality of pre-approved charitable projects wherein financialinformation about said plurality of pre-approved charitable projectscomprises at least one of: funding request period, total budget for atleast one project, matching grant information for at least one project,a total annual expenses for at least one project, or expense breakdownfor at least one project; project objective information about saidplurality of pre-approved charitable projects; and updated statusinformation relating to said plurality of pre-approved charitableprojects; C. a charitable project data server system mounted on theserver computing system in communication with the one or more charitableproject databases and the communications network; and D. wherein thecommunication network is configured to communicate the financialinformation, the project objective information, and the updated statusinformation to a remote user, and further wherein the communicationsnetwork receives a donation after communicating the updated statusinformation.
 2. The charitable project donation management system ofclaim 1 wherein the communications network includes the Internet.
 3. Thecharitable project donation management system of claim 1 wherein thecommunications network includes a local area network.
 4. The charitableproject donation management system of claim 1 wherein the communicationsnetwork includes a wide area network.
 5. The charitable project donationmanagement system of claim 1 wherein the charitable project data serversystem is browser based.
 6. The charitable project donation managementsystem of claim 2 wherein the server computing system comprises aweb-server.
 7. The charitable project donation management system ofclaim 2 wherein the one or more charitable project databases includeremote user team information.
 8. The charitable project donationmanagement system of claim 3 wherein the one or more charitable projectdatabases include pre-approved remote user login information.
 9. Thecharitable project donation management system of claim 1 wherein the oneor more charitable project databases include fee information.
 10. Thecharitable project donation management system of claim 9 wherein the feeinformation includes information about at least one of: a fee chargedperiodically; a fee charged on a transactional basis; a fee chargedbased on amount of time spent using the charitable project managementsystem; a fee charged for conducting a charitable project assessment; ora fee charged for conducting a charitable organization assessment. 11.The charitable project donation management system of claim 1 wherein theone or more charitable project databases includes project goals for atleast one project.
 12. The charitable project donation management systemof claim 1 wherein the one or more charitable project databases includesa website URL for at least one project.
 13. The charitable projectdonation management system of claim 1 wherein project objectiveinformation about said plurality of pre-approved charitable projectscomprises at least one of: economic development information for at leastone project; infrastructure development information for at least oneproject; social development information for at least one project; orspiritual development information for at least one project.
 14. Thecharitable project donation management system of claim 1 wherein the oneor more charitable project databases mounted on the server computingsystem further comprise, for at least one project, approval information.